Yeah.
BTDT, sorta. :)
Got to get both tires going together or it's bogus.

My inherited '91 with its sloppy 8.8 in the air I couldn't spin the marked tires
by hand and get the 3.55 to come out for nuthin'. :) Just finally gave up. :/
And I already knowed the answer. ;)

It'd worked for me on my 3L25 in my '75 tho, no sweat.

Alvin in AZ

 

Yeah! :)
What he said!

http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/Fdrive018.jpg
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/Ford9inch.jpg

If this dumb ditch digger can do it for the price of parts, so can you. ;)

YouTube - not enough carrier preload

Alvin in AZ

 

My truck barely goes 70mph as is, but it always shifts down to second anytime i try to go faster, is this because of lack of power? would lower gears help top speed or hurt it in this situation?

 

Mine has a VERY tired 360 (for just a few weeks longer), 4.11 rearend, 235/75r15 tires and a c6. I don't have a tach either- I don't want to know how fast I'm twisting this motor at highway speed. Mine gets up to 75mph very easily. I usually never cruise faster than 60-65 mph, and can't hit the pass gear unless I'm going under about 50. Acceleration from 50- 65 is very quick, especially when you consider that this engine's biggest oil leak is blowby coming out of the oil fill cap. You can do the math on cruise rpm if you want- you'll find that you really should have 4.11-4.88 gears, but the bottom line is that you won'g get those big meats spinning without some leverage!!

I know its blasphemy, but I'd also consider going down to a 33 or 31" tire. I can't speak for dedicated mud use, but my bronco has been up many difficult trails in Colorado with nothing bigger than 30x9.50s, including Holy Cross City, Kelly Flats, and Immogine Pass no body damage on any. Tires aren't everything.

If you can still hit your passing gear at 70mph, lower gears will definately help. I promise! If you live in albuquerque and want proof, come drive my truck!!

 

Any suggestions of best/cheapest place or website to find gears?

 

Cheapest- junkyard

Best- Summit, Randys, Ebay- look for Yukon, Richmond, or Ford for the nine inch, dana spicer for the D44.

I have a Yukon ring and pinion, axle shafts, and clutches in a stock trac-loc diff that I bought from Randys. I"m very satisfied. front is stock with open diff.

 

Mine's a Richmond Sportsman.
And I got some stuff from Randys too.

I couldn't get everything I needed at one place took three places and Randy's
was the slowest in my situation.

http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/yoketool.jpg

That "hooded" pinion bearing retainer is what they call a "Daytona" style and
it uses a bigger bearing. I didn't know that and bought a kit that had two
regular bearings. It seems like that was the hold up at Randy's, he was the
only one that had those as separate item and learned he was out after the
fact. Turned out I could've got one at the local bearing shop for cheaper. ;)

Anyway be sure to buy the right kit for your axle. Be sure whether it's a 28
or 31 spline axle for the axle bearings and double check your axles for true
first too. Get it up on blocks and check 'em, I had one slightly bent axle but
bought a matching pair from seems like Jeff's BGY.

Some of the odd ball stuff like shim kits, IMO and my limited experience aren't
really needed just a good magnet based dial indicator and the YouTube videos
(which I didn't have at the time :/) will get you through it. :)

It's not near as complicated as over hauling an engine and don't understand
why more guys don't do it themselves. What the guy shows in the You Tube
videos is the part that you can't learn in a book and following the direction to
the letter in Ford's Shop Manual didn't get it right the first time for me either! :/
The YouTube videos would have fixed me right up tho! :)

Tucson Differential adjust my carrier bearing pre-load after I had created a vinyl
record like whine in the gear's surfaces in 200 miles of driving when I took it
apart again. The guys on the phone at Richmond don't have a clue! :/

You can't rely on them if you run into trouble. :/ It's all about the bearing pre-load! :)
The videos kick butt! :) The guy that owns Tucson Differential wouldn't let me pay
him and wouldn't even let me sweep the shop. LOL :)

The whine is almost gone and was only under a down shift condition not just
a coast. I was talked into putting a .018" shim in it when it came with a
.020" and the gear was +/- zero so the pinion should have had a .020 under
but the guys at Richmond told me to do it and the guy at Tucson Differential
couldn't believe they would do that, but said "it's in there and it's been run with
it, leave it"

-------------------

Crush collar versus solid collar...

I wanted to use the original solid collar in it but the shim pack I got from
Randy's was completely useless. :/ I don't remember the details but they
didn't add up to the right thickness even with the whole stack, or something
like that. :/ Anyway, realized later there is no difference, the solid collar gets
loose inside there too, after break in, so it's all the same.

Mine took at least a hundred more foot pounds of torque to get the pinion
bearing pre-load right than the book called for.

YouTube - pinion preload

Unless you want to do it "the ol' heave-ho your lunch" way ;)...
YouTube - Setting pinion bearing preload on the Ford 8.8" axle
{shiver;}

The yoke tool I made is from bed frame and exhaust manifold studs. It's on
there upside down for the picture, I'd flip it over for tightening the nut. :)
I have a big monkey wrench but wanted to make the tool for some reason.

Alvin in AZ
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/yoketool.jpg
I tapped this normalized file and ran the bolt all the way in and cut it off.
It doesn't need a cheater pipe but before I got done messing around I
ended up using one anyway...
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/Ford9inch.jpg
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/Ford9inch-B.jpg
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/Ford9inch-S.jpg
These pictures were emailed to Richmond, they wanted them but couldn't
tell anything by looking at them... :/ They were a disappointment, even if
they do make good gears! LOL :)
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/Fcoast018.jpg
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/Fdrive018.jpg
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/Fpinion018.jpg

 

OK, So what is rolling it on level ground going to do to stop both tires from rolling? Is that not the way it works in real time?



John

 

Where?

If you find one 1957/83 F100 or 1975/86 F150 9" rear end with a 4.11 rear axle ratio, consider yourself fortunate, because this ratio was rarely installed in cars, much less trucks.

1957/64 F100 common ratios: 3.70, 3.89.

1965/79 F100/150 common ratios: 3.25, 3.50, 3.70.

1980/86 F100/150 common ratios: 3.00 / 3.25 / 3.50.

The 4.11 rear axle ratio was a no cost option, very very few people ordered it.

Dealers rarely had a truck with this ratio in stock, so the truck had to be ordered with one, or someone had to pay a minimum of $200.00 to have it installed.

I've decoded over 400 9" rear axle codes here on FTE, not one was a 4.11.

btw: There is no ratio of 4.09, they're all 4.11's. The same 4.11 rear axle gear set was used 1957/86: B7AZ-4209-K.

 

I sure got the oddball: 1 to 3.55 out back, 1 to 3.54 in the front.

What are the most common ratios in full size Broncos?

 

1978/86 Bronco 9 inch rear axle: 3.25-1 / 3.55-1, with 3.55-1 predominating.

I've seen this factory combo twice on FTE: Dana 60 rear: 4.11-1 / Dana 60 front: 4.56-1.

 

Wow! I sure see a lot switched out when I go junkyardin'.

I did see the 4.10/4.11 setup once, but alas, no money.

Edit: Thanks Bill!

 

Alvin, regarding post 22 with the pictures, I find it amazing that Richmond did not see anything wrong with those tooth patterns. I was taught to get the drive pattern centered on the ring gear tooth inside to outside and top to bottom and the coast side would take care of itself. I have not ever checked the coast pattern and have not had any noise. It looks like the pinion pattern is too close to the top of the teeth and too close to the end also, but I am no expert.

 

So if i regear my axle, do i use ring and pinions with the same ratio up front and back, i want to go somewhere around 4.88, but i cant find matching numbers for front and rear. I'm still a little wet behind the ears in everything regarding trucks, but want to learn all i can!

 

Yes, you need to use matching ratios front and rear, note that most factory ratios will be a point different. The front will have a 4.09:1 and the rear will have a 4.10:1 or 4.11:1. That is what you need to do with your new ratios also. My '89 has 3.54:1 in the front and 3.55:1 in the rear for example.